“I Will Not Be Sued! I Have The Voice Of An Angel! No Man Can Sue Me.”
On November 17, 1955, Maria Callas gave a triumphant performance in Chicago’s Civic Opera House. However, the real drama began after the opera was over. U.S. Marshal Stanley Pringle and Deputy Sheriff Dan Smith burst into Callas’s dressing room and served her with court summons for a breach of contract. Maria was furious: “I will not be sued! I have the voice of an angel! No man can sue me,” she yelled. The photograph perfectly conveys the intensity of the moment at the time and after the image made its way to the press, Maria Callas was dubbed "The Tigress". After the incident, the great diva of the Opera vowed to never return to the Windy City again.